REPEAL OF OCS DRILLING BAN PICKING UP SUPPORT Members of Louisiana’s congressional delegation have long called for lifting the ban on offshore exploration in the U.S.’s Outer Continental Shelf, particularly the nearby eastern Gulf of Mexico, but now that a presidential candidate and top federal agency have joined the push, the issue is gaining new momentum. There are actually two bans on offshore drilling along the U.S.’s east and west coasts and in the eastern Gulf of Mexico — a 1981 congressional moratorium and a 1990 executive ban signed by the first President Bush. The United States is the only country that has closed more than 80 percent of its OCS to drilling, and outdated estimates — last assessed in the late 1980s — assume there may be 18 billion barrels of untapped oil and 76 trillion cubic feet of natural gas off of U.S. coastlines.
Though Louisiana is not included in the ban, industry officials argue that the state has the infrastructure in place to support the activity and bring the oil and gas online to help alleviate rising fuel costs.
A month ago President Bush asked Congress to open up the area to drilling, and on Monday removed the executive prohibition (both bans must be lifted for any new activity to take place). Generations of Louisiana lawmakers, such as U.S. Rep. Charlie Melancon, a Napoleonville Democrat who represents portions of southern Acadiana, have filed legislation to lift the statutory ban, but have been unable to make any headway — until now. “He still supports [lifting the ban] and is hopeful,” says Robin Winchell, Melancon’s press secretary.
For his part, U.S. Rep. Charles Boustany, a Lafayette Republican who represents the rest of Acadiana, sent a letter to Bush Thursday, July 10, asking him to take action immediately to help lower the price of gas, if for nothing else. “The President was right to call on Congress to lift the congressional OCS exploration ban, but he must lift the executive ban now,” Boustany said in his letter. “Increasing American supplies of oil will help decrease the price at the pump squeezing families in southwest Louisiana. The President can eliminate his ban on exploration now, and Congress should follow his lead.”
In many ways, Boustany is following the lead of his party’s presumptive presidential nominee, Arizona Sen. John McCain, who has advocated increased OCS energy production to both lower prices at the pump and increase U.S. supply. When it comes to environmental concerns, McCain has said he would not support drilling in Alaska’s Arctic National Wildlife Refuge or other sensitive areas.
The official energy plan of Illinois Sen. Barack Obama, the Democrat Party’s assumed presidential nominee, does little to address the expansion of OCS drilling. Obama’s campaign planks focus instead on reducing oil consumption, retooling fuel-economy standards and creating new tax breaks.
The U.S. Minerals Management Service, the federal body that oversees federal oil-and-gas leases, has also called for a lifting of the bans with some limitations. MMS Director Randall Luthi, speaking to reporters last week on a conference call, said the new OCS areas would yield fuel for up to 15 years, during which time the country should focus more resources on alternative energy sources.
One of the more viable measures floating around Congress to lift the OCS ban is sponsored by Rep. Tim Murphy of Pennsylvania and 43 other House Republicans, including Boustany. Murphy also co-signed the letter to the president penned by Boustany. Winchell said Melancon was not asked to take part in this particular push by Republicans, but he does support the intent.
VIDRINE ANNOUNCES 7TH DISTRICT CANDIDACY U.S. Constitution Party candidate Peter Vidrine launched his run for the 7th Congressional District seat last week at City Hall in Eunice. The Eunice native and owner of the technical services company Sirius Technologies is making his second bid for Congress. Because the U.S. Constitution Party isn’t recognized by the state, Vidrine’s name will appear on the Nov. 4 general election ballot without a party listed. Vidrine first ran as a Republican in 1996 in an eight-candidate field, garnering just over 5,000 votes. He has since switched over to the Constitution Party, and is promoting a moratorium on immigration, closing the office of the U.S. Trade Representative, withdrawing from the World Trade Organization and the United Nations and cutting off aid to foreign countries.
Vidrine was an early supporter of U.S. Rep. Ron Paul in the Republican presidential primary is working to build on the grassroots network that Paul established in the state.
LANDRIEU AND KENNEDY’S SECOND QUARTER HAUL Friends of Mary Landrieu announced last week that the incumbent Democratic senator raised more than $1.5 million during the second quarter of 2008 — what her re-election campaign committee claims is a state record for any U.S. senator seeking re-election.
“Sen. Landrieu’s strong fund raising shows that her support is widespread and crosses party lines,” Landrieu campaign manager Jay Howser says. “Republicans, independents and Democrats from Shreveport to Lake Charles, from Monroe to Grand Isle and everywhere in between know that Sen. Landrieu fights and wins for Louisiana.”
Landrieu’s campaign has more than $5.4 million in the bank, doubling the cash on hand of her opponent, state Treasurer John Kennedy. The Kennedy campaign countered by announcing that it bested Landrieu’s $1.5 million by raising $1.51 million in the second quarter. “We also set fund-raising records by raising the most amount of money of any Senate challenger,” says Lenny Alcivar, Kennedy’s communications director.
DEVELOPER ENTERS, THEN BAILS ON NEW IBERIA MAYOR’S RACE Colorful businessman Chris Jordan was challenging New Iberia mayor Hilda Curry in this year’s fall election. Jordan, a developer, told The Daily Iberian that he can bring rapid economic growth to the city. Known as a freewheeling entrepreneur, Jordan’s corporation, Vermilion Holdings, owns several New Iberia downtown landmarks including the Gouggenheim and Lagniappe buildings, and an impressive camp at Cypremort Point. Jordan’s frequently been vocal about property owner’s rights, often publicly challenging the city’s regulations. But only a day after articulating his intention to run, Jordan pulled the plug on his candidacy. “Unfortunately, I have other obligations in place, which I cannot abandon at this time,” he said. “I will do everything possible to assist the current mayor in helping New Iberia achieve a higher level of success for which we can all be proud.”
Contributors: Jeremy Alford, Nathan Stubbs, Leslie Turk and Mary Tutwiler
MAY 17 Here's a column from James Gill, this time in the Advocate. Gill, who has jumped ship from the Picayune, writes about the absurdity of dueling polls in this post. The numbers are so wildly different, it is obvious that both sides are "cooking the books," he writes. In particular, he looks at Sen. Mary Landrieu, and how her recent actions in DC have been received by those polled. Gill's acerbic, amusing prose is a welcome addition to a paper so conservative as to be occasionally lacking in personality.
MAY 17 Blogger Tom Aswell continues delivering bombshells about the state education department and Gov. Jindal's education "reform" efforts. In this post, he reports that students in the Shreveport area have been signed up for a charter school without their knowledge or consent. Most interesting to Aswell is how this Texas-based charter (with ties to GOP types) got the personal student information it has, if the students didn't give it.
MAY 17 This post by JR Ball in the Baton Rouge Business Report is an interesting tongue-in-cheek look at recent Baton Rouge economic development efforts. Among the items he examines is the idea that gaining a Costco makes BR a "world-class city." (Really? All you need is a different brand of Sam's? MK!) This effort, and other recent ones, are all built on the taxpayer's back, with tax zones, tax incentives and tax rebates, Ball writes.
MAY 17 Blogger CB Forgotston is critical of the legislature's reliance on a revenue-estimating committee's decision to include projected tax amnesty income in this year's forecast. That's a problem, CB posts, because the deadline for these people to pay their taxes is June 30, 2014. So when do you think these people who haven't paid taxes in years are going to pay their taxes? Surely not before June 30, and that means the money won't be there for this year's budget, he argues.
MAY 17 Here's an interesting blog out of California by a Hollywood writer, attorney and academic named Brian Alan Lane. He blogs about higher ed, and was a whistle-blower in a scandal over false credentials. In this post, he takes aim at LSU's new top dog, King Alexander. It's convoluted and a little confusing, but it sure makes Alexander a lot more interesting than he was yesterday.
MAY 17 Blogger Robert Mann writes about the LSU Board's refusal to allow Dr. Fred Cerise to testify before the legislature about Gov. Jindal's plan to close down all the state's charity hospitals and dump the poor on the private system. It's hard to imagine anyone more qualified than Cerise to testify about that, so why would anyone try to prevent him doing so? Mann thinks it is because the powers that be aren't interested in hearing any truth about the plan.
MAY 17 This post on the Louisiana Sinkhole Bugle, a blog that notes developments in the Bayou Corne and Jefferson Island salt domes, talks about a proposed expansion of the salt dome storage under Lake Peigneur in Iberia Parish. Residents are working against it for several reasons, including two biggies: the sinkhole disaster in Bayou Corne and the continuing, unexplained bubbling on the surface of the Lake.
MAY 17 NOLA police arrested more people Thursday accused of either being involved in the Mother's Day shooting or hiding the suspect afterward, this Gambit story reports. The NOLA police chief said he suspects the whole thing was gang-related and throws out a challenge to the gangs: he's got informants now, he says, and he knows a lot more than the gangs want him to know. The people who live in the neighborhoods terrorized by gangs are ready to talk, he says.
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